I was in Vegas last week for Blog World Expo, a fairly small convention for bloggers and other social media pros. Most conferences we go to are a complete waste of time, so I was hesitant to go. But it turned out to be one of the coolest, most valuable tech meet ups I've attended

Blog World Expo is a gathering of bloggers, *our users*. I was able to meet a ton of Posterous users, people who should be on Posterous, and lots of people who teach blogging for a living. It was a great way to see how people blog and what features they need.

Blog World Expo felt more "real" than conferences like SXSW. The sessions were actually useful, people were actually there to share and learn. People were talking about Twitter and how best to use Twitter, but they weren't blinded by Twitter.

I particularly enjoyed listening to Jay Thompson talk about how he uses social media. "Don’t write for the search engines, write for your readers." Trying to get more page views and more followers is just ego.

SXSW, on the other hand, is all about networking. It's about meeting people and going to parties. That's definitely fun, but it's not clear to me why we all need to travel to Austin for this, or why we need to spend money on the conference, or how people can afford to take so much time off.

Posterous will definitely be at Blog World Expo in the coming years, probably with a booth next year. Doesn't hurt that I totally love Vegas :).

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The Wynn is incredible. The quality of everything, and attention to detail is unlike anything else I've seen. The room itself is almost as big as our apartment!

There's so much to show Kate in the 48 hours that she will be here. This weekend is going to be legend- wait for it- ary.

I can't wait for Kate to get in tomorrow so I can take her to all my favorite spots.

The timing worked out perfectly: Kate and I booked a trip to Vegas for this upcoming weekend long before I knew BWE even existed. So I just changed my flight to a day earlier and I'm going to attend the conference before Kate arrives in Sin City.

I've always loved Vegas. Growing up in LA, I went all the time with my parents. And then I started going just with friends in high school. We would go to shop and gamble and explore the city. Sometimes we'd sit at a blackjack table for 10 hours straight. We loved it.

When I graduated from Stanford, I was considering jobs from Apple and Amazon. When my to-be manager at Apple told me that Final Cut Pro goes to Vegas every year for a conference, I was ready to sign. A month later I was going to my first of six NABs. We had some epic times in Vegas. One year we went for 10 days!

Las Vegas and New York City are very similar, so it makes a lot of sense that I love both so much. It starts with the energy, the 24/7 party atmosphere. Then add good food, drinks, gambling, shows... Both cities never sleep.

I haven't been to Vegas in over two years since Apple stopped attending NAB, and then I quit to start Posterous. It's my longest stretch from Sin City. And Kate has never been before. So we're really looking forward to this weekend.

Any recommendations for the hot new spots in Las Vegas? Like New York, Vegas changes fast. I'm sure the places I loved a few years back have been replaced by even more awesome attractions.

Poll: Will Sachin and Kate get married in Vegas by Elvis? Discuss...